Protesters rally on Mother's Day at Berks County Residential Center

With more than 500 Mother’s Day cards in hand, protesters outside the Berks County Residential Center said they wanted the immigrant families detained inside, especially the mothers, to know they weren’t forgotten.

Dozens of people rallied Sunday outside the facility in Bern Township for the annual “Mama’s Day” gathering, now in its fourth year. Carrying signs and periodically shouting “Shut Berks Down,” they addressed detained families in English and Spanish.

Across the country, thousands of Mother’s Day cards are collected and sent to “invisible” mothers — including those detained, imprisoned, single or immigrant — who may need a pick-me-up, said Erin Malone, communications director for Forward Together, a national organization that advocates social change.

“It’s a real travesty that they (detained mothers) were spending their first Mother’s Day in the United States in prison,” Malone said. “They made a tremendous amount of sacrifices to come here with their families, and what’s criminal is (that) what they’re doing is considered a crime.”

Adanjesus Marin, state director of Make the Road Pennsylvania, was adamant when he said that what the facility was doing was illegal. Using the megaphone, he implored police to turn and arrest the administrators of the residential center.

“They’re the criminals,” he shouted as the crowd erupted into cheers.

In February, the state Department of Human Services declined to renew the center’s child residential facility license, saying that family detention does not fit the purpose of the center’s license. An appeal was filed, allowing the center to operate until the case is handled in court, the state Department of Human Services has said.

The center is operated by Berks County under an arrangement with the federal government and is one of three centers in which immigrant families are housed while their asylum cases are determined. The other two are in Texas.

Berks has a statement posted on its website saying that because of ongoing litigation, county officials will not comment. ICE released this statement Sunday night: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fully respects the rights of all people to voice their opinion within the confines of the law. ICE remains focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes threats to national security, public safety, and border security.”

Advocates contend it’s immoral to hold women and children there for periods lasting several months and want the center closed.

“They’re just trying to make a better life for the families,” Malone said. “And they follow the process to seek asylum and they shouldn’t be here in this facility that lost its license already.”

Marin said that although the ultimate goal is to have the facility closed, it’s just as important to let the detained mothers know people are thinking of them on Mother’s Day.

“We thought that there was no more important day than today to let the mothers know that they’re not alone, that the people of Berks County stand with them, and we’re going to keep fighting until they’re free,” Marin said. “We’re going to do whatever we can to lift their spirits while we continue the struggle.”